February 02, 2011

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Rep. Pete King has quickly dismissed the religious groups lambasting him for his planned hearings on the “radicalization of Islam.”

On Tuesday, 51 faith and community groups warned that the New York Republican's examination of Muslim-American violence would stoke anti-Muslim sentiment. In their letter to House Leader John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, they compared King’s planned investigation to the anti-Communist hearings once conducted by Sen. John McCarthy.

King issued a terse statement writing off their concerns.

“I don’t believe it warrants an answer,” the New York Republican said Wednesday. “I am too busy preparing for the hearings.”

King has defended the hearings several times since announcing them in December.

“This isn’t a question of scoring points,” he told POLITICO last month. “It’s the fact that there’s a real threat coming from this attempted radicalization of the community, and it’s in many ways coming from overseas.”